Free Hot Zone by Ben Lovett

emotions.
    He and Shooter had been the original members of the Team. They had spent many years together and certainly no one felt the pain of the loss more than Ice.
    But not now. There was a time and place and this was not it. His men and especially Jordan needed strength out of their leader, not weakness, not tears.
    That was the job.
    The further they swam the more debris they found.
    The group came up on a large coral formation that stretched up towards the surface like a mountain range amongst a field of grass.
    It looked oddly out of place.
    Together they swam up the face of the formation, Jordan took note of the strange shape and location of the coral in relation to the rest of the surroundings. Not that she was a marine biology expert, heck, she'd spent her entire life in the desert.
    As they reached the summit of the formation, what they found on the other side left the entire group drop-jawed. Standing on the summit they look down to an enormous abyss below. They could not see where it ended. It was like the ocean floor just disappeared and left a vast hole of nothingness.
    Then the first rays of sun pierced through the water.

 
    10
 
    Ghost had kept watch of his surroundings, periodically checking all points of the compass with his infrared binoculars.
    So far the SEAL's had been able to keep their presence here a secret. Then the stars receded into the distance as the sky's color slowly changed from black to orange to yellow to red. The sun tipped its hat to the horizon and began its ascent from its slumber. In just a few minutes daylight would be upon the Navy SEAL and his two empty zodiacs.
    The Team had already been gone longer than originally planned, even though their re-breathers offered them limitless time underwater the plan was to surface by sunrise, regardless of what they found. Ghost was concerned the French would be out here surveying the area themselves for evidence of what had happened and he did not want to be there when they arrived.
    "Not for nothing guys but it's getting awfully light up here, our time's up."
    * * *
    Like a dizzying dream effect in a cheap B movie the darkness lifted around Jordan and the SEALs. Slivers of lights beams waved in front of her eyes, slowly revealing her surroundings. An aquatic world of blues and greens, small armies of marine life guarding their coral palaces and caved fortresses. In the distance a small reef shark zipped through the water chasing a helpless fish.
    Looking down into the abyss now she saw what her former Professor had seen. It was an incredible sight. A sight she could barely explain. Enormous structures encased in coral and rock lay beneath them, stretching on indefinitely. They were deep down, way down, too far down Jordan thought.
    "You guys see what I see?" Jordan asked
    "Ah ha." Storm said.
    "That's an awful long way down guys. At least
    another one fifty, maybe more, the water distorts distance and depth." Roo said.
    Ice turned to Jordan. "If we go down there, by the time we get back to the zodiacs we'll be sitting ducks for the French. If we go, we have to go now and go quickly."
    Jordan didn't like the thought of fighting the French, but the scientist in her drove her to say the weirdest thing: "Let's do it."
    Ice spoke to Ghost: "I think we got what we're looking for down here. Lots of dive debris, and now a bunch of odd looking formations, could be buildings, cutting it close with time."
    "And how many are you?" Ghost asked, knowing the answer.
    "We're at five. One down. Shooter."
    There was silence on the radio and then Ghost said: "Whatever you guys have going on down there, make it quick. I'm a sitting duck up here if we get company."
    "10-4, copy that." Then to the group. "Stay together down there. Lets not get lost in that mess. We're going to have about fifteen minutes to check it out before we start heading back up. Lets go." Skip added as they began toward to the structures: "We want to look out for anything with teeth too. So